NON-Surgeon Reviews

Please repost wherever you post: I would like to initiate a place to collect reports of known BAIT-AND-DON'T-SWITCH surgeons.

This includes:

Surgeons who advertise they do the DS, but then refuse to do them (there are rumors has it that Dr. Kim in Dallas has publicly stated that "due to liability" he is no longer doing the DS, yet there is more than one person on OH claiming that they are seeking a DS with him)

Surgeons who try to steer patients away from the DS, and only grudgingly will do one

Surgeons who steer patients to some variant thereof, like the SADI, especially if they are doing it on self-pays, or if they are billing insurance for something that was not authorized.

In particular, I'd like to keep track of surgeons like Cooper and Ponce de Leon who apparently give patients a SADI or some other "variant" DS without fully informed consent, i.e., when the patient THINKS they are getting a proper DS and only find out later that they did not (patients have reported that they had NO idea they were getting the SADI, or were told it was just like a DS, only "safer").

I also hope that anyone who sees a pre-op patient who is going to a surgeon that does this will WARN them of these reports of their chosen surgeon's practices, so they can do their due diligence even more carefully.

TO BE CLEAR: these reports are like Yelp reviews - they are only as reliable as the person reporting them, and are for the purpose of raising awareness and advising pre-ops to be particularly careful, not only with the named surgeons, but also ANY surgeon - GET WHAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZING THEM TO DO - OR NOT DO - IN WRITING!!

Diana....I'd like to give some information on this if you don't mind. Maybe it will help others.

(DISCLAIMER) I'm NOT trying to bad mouth my surgeon!

My surgeon is Hugh Houston in Nashville TN. I'm scheduled for March 12th. I found him on DSFacts and chose him because he does DS lap. He does advertise DS on his website. When I got to my initial appt he said he "wasn't really doing DS anymore because a lot of DSrs end up on someone's ER doorstep dead" (I did remind him that they advertise DS) From what I could gather he had a bad experience with a patient, but he wouldn't give details. He did push me to just do sleeve. After explaining that I'm an employee of the facility where he does surgery (I happen to know they are all about pt satisfaction and I brought that up), a senior nursing student (so I do have "some" knowledge about the medical field even if it is considered "novice"), and someone who only wants to pay for surgery ONCE....he said he would consider doing DS....IF....IF....IF....I went home and really researched/thought about it for the 90 days I had to wait for insurance. When I went for my final appt in January he had marked my file and insurance paperwork for VSG. Of course I pulled the reigns!!!! I did my research. I knew my information. I told him again that I was there for DS and if he didn't want to do it that was fine. Totally fine. I would be willing to go to Knoxville where they are doing DS. He made me teach him about DS. Literally we spent and hour and a half together. Me teaching him all I know. Him asking me questions. Me asking HIM questions. It felt like it went on forever. He finally said..."since you know about DS....you can have one". They had to redo all of my paperwork. When I did that and signed my consent I had them change my consent so that if can't DS me then I don't want anything. (DOCUMENTATION!!!!!) I think he's an excellent surgeon who may have had some noncompliant patients and he felt burned. This is understandable. Not everyone is a candidate for DS, but I know that I am. I had to really fight for what I wanted.

I'd also like to add that it takes a lot to stand up against the "norm" and an experienced doctor. I've had practice as I've had 2 of my 4 babies at home with a midwife.....on purpose. I certainly know how to advocate for myself and my body. If I don't, who else will? Right?!

Oh....and we did discuss specifics about the anatomy of DS. He made me explain it to him. He also asked me how long I wanted my common channel. He said it was up to me that whatever I was comfortable with he would be willing to do...within reason.

Jordan, you had me at homebirth. I had my last of 3 at home, over 10# of bouncing baby boy. But I would never have stuck with Houston, because I don't believe in educating doctors anymore. I've done my arguing and now expect my doctors to either be for me or against me, in which case, they're fired.

Good for you for pursuing the DS. Make sure Houston knows you are a success story. He must have had one hell of a failure with a DS patient in order to become so calloused. My surgeon had a horror story like that as well. It involved a man in a nursing home being fed only pancakes and dying of malnutrition. Scare tactic.

Jordan, you had me at homebirth. I had my last of 3 at home, over 10# of bouncing baby boy. But I would never have stuck with Houston, because I don't believe in educating doctors anymore. I've done my arguing and now expect my doctors to either be for me or against me, in which case, they're fired.

Good for you for pursuing the DS. Make sure Houston knows you are a success story. He must have had one hell of a failure with a DS patient in order to become so calloused. My surgeon had a horror story like that as well. It involved a man in a nursing home being fed only pancakes and dying of malnutrition. Scare tactic.

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Thanks Sheanie. I wanted to stay on. I like him. Plus I get a large discount as an employee and with 4 kids I needed the savings. This is the first thing other than nursing school that I've done for myself. I can only afford surgery once, so I have to make it count. Plus, I'll get to stay on my unit so my friends will be caring for me. That means a lot to me. I know they're all excellent nurses and will make sure I'm cared for. That alone is priceless. All things work out how they're supposed to. This has really been a smooth process for me. He's rearranging his schedule to accommodate the surgery date I wanted. That means a lot to me. And yeah...I totally agree. Someone must have really burned him. DS isn't for everyone. He did say he will probably be DS'ing a lot of these sleeves he's doing in 5-8 years.

Well, make sure he knows he won't be seeing you for the rest of the DS if you wake up with just a sleeve. That's what my surgeon tried to pull on me in effing Pre-op. He said "so you realize you may wake up with just the sleeve, right?" and I didn't say anything. He said "so you'll be all right with that?" And I took a deep breath, looked over at my husband, who just smirked, and I said "I guess I would have to deal with it. But if THAT happens, YOU won't be seeing me for the REST of the DS". His face went red, he walked away, and I woke up with the entire DS. That man planned on doing only the sleeve, even though we had gone OVER AND OVER it, and I made him sign the papers that I signed, and I circled the DS in red in front of him and another surgeon in his office.

So be very careful with a surgeon you already know does not like doing the DS anymore. They make double the money by doing it in two parts. Don't settle. And hold his feet to the fire. Make him REPEAT to you in pre-op that it's all or nothing.

Well, make sure he knows he won't be seeing you for the rest of the DS if you wake up with just a sleeve. That's what my surgeon tried to pull on me in effing Pre-op. He said "so you realize you may wake up with just the sleeve, right?" and I didn't say anything. He said "so you'll be all right with that?" And I took a deep breath, looked over at my husband, who just smirked, and I said "I guess I would have to deal with it. But if THAT happens, YOU won't be seeing me for the REST of the DS". His face went red, he walked away, and I woke up with the entire DS. That man planned on doing only the sleeve, even though we had gone OVER AND OVER it, and I made him sign the papers that I signed, and I circled the DS in red in front of him and another surgeon in his office.

So be very careful with a surgeon you already know does not like doing the DS anymore. They make double the money by doing it in two parts. Don't settle. And hold his feet to the fire. Make him REPEAT to you in pre-op that it's all or nothing.

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OH......I will!!! That's why I had them change the consent. I know my way around the system. He knows that I know my way around. It will be easier for him to just do the DS and call it a day than it is to try and bait/switch me. But yes.....I will see him again next week and we will have another conversation and then another one on day of surgery. It's all or nothing.

@jjordan8130 : I'm glad you came on to talk about Dr. Houston. After our phone call, I was so disappointed to hear his shift to two part DS surgeries. I didn't want to post anything here, since I haven't really talked to him. I can understand his actions, yet if he really wants his DS patients to succeed, he needs to get the staff there educated and a little more open minded. My last encounter with them left me a little peeved. Keep in touch as it gets closer to your surgery. And if you want help kicking his butt, I'm in your corner.

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